As vital as prescription packs and vials are to the pharmacy business, technology has become equally important.
Two technological advances have particularly benefited healthcare providers in recent years: those reducing time and encouraging creative problem-solving to benefit patients. Several technological advancements in the last few years have revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry. We’ve compiled a list of the top 9 technological advances in the pharmaceutical industry.
Dispenser Units/Cabinets
A computerized dispensing cabinet handles the electronic storage and distribution of medications. As the name implies, it is intended for use in medical facilities. Using these medicine dispensing services in the pharmaceutical or clinical distribution can help in greater patient compliance and managing physicians’ workload. This enhances fill rates and decreases human mistakes. Besides saving time, staff may pay more attention to patients than prescriptions.
Tracking Prescriptions Using a Barcode
Medications are tracked in the EP system with the use of barcodes. This technological advancement has been shown to increase the accuracy and completeness of the patient’s medication history and decrease the number of drug delivery mistakes. Healthcare providers frequently come up with “workarounds” to prevent barcode scanning from identifying medications at the time of delivery since it is inconvenient.
Communication With Mobile Devices
In today’s culture, having a mobile phone is becoming more widespread. Several pharmacies send out text messages to keep their customers informed of when their refills have been processed or to promote other services. Yet, sophisticated applications are available for illness monitoring, such as peak flow recording for asthma, blood glucose monitoring, medication assistance, and education. The influence of these applications on the pharmacy profession is already substantial, and it will only grow in the years to come.
Medicine Adherence
Many tools exist that may be used to keep tabs on patient compliance. Several companies now offer “smart packaging,” which uses a microchip inside a blister pack to keep tabs on when a patient takes their prescription and collect data on adverse reactions. A tablet or smartphone may get these details.
E-Prescribing
Is there a single pharmacist who has never had to understand a doctor’s hastily scrawled prescription? How often do you fill out a prescription just to have it canceled a few hours later through fax?
E-prescribing is leading the way in digital prescription, streamlining the work of pharmacists, and improving patients’ access to safe and effective medications.
Methodologies for Organizing and Managing Patient Care
Pharmacy locations in several regions were reclassified as “vaccination facilities” during the COVID-19 immunization campaign. The sudden demand for in-pharmacy immunizations stoked a long-standing need to transition pharmacy treatment to an appointment-based model during social distancing and staffing shortages that required control mechanisms.
Pharmacies may choose from comprehensive patient care systems. They are like an enhanced version of a customer relationship management system. Appointment scheduling, telehealth via phone or video chat, automated documentation, and online payments are features often found in today’s integrated systems.
Several in-built clinical tools, such as compounding formulae and medication interaction assessments, are also available.
Pharmacogenomics
The highest standard of medical care is individualized treatment. It paves the way for individualized care based on the patient’s diagnosis and unique genetic makeup. To ascertain whether a certain medicine may be utilized to treat a patient’s condition, pharmacogenomics (also known as drug-gene testing) is performed. The technology is crucial for preventing adverse reactions and ensuring patients take the most effective medications. Both patients and doctors spend considerable time searching for the most effective treatment option.
Telecare
Telemedicine delivers healthcare services and consultations at a distance using digital communication technologies (audio/visual). Many advantages exist for telecare. It promotes individualized treatment and puts patients at the center of the healthcare team. It may lessen the burden on patients with limited mobility or who live in far-flung places by allowing them to avoid trips to the hospital.
The precise advantages of telecare may differ from one care setting and one use of the technology to the next. Nevertheless, more funding for telecare is not warranted currently.
The provision of pharmacy services may be drastically altered through remote consultations. Key considerations in pharmacy telecare adoption include the availability of dependable communication and integration systems and the willingness of pharmacy owners to invest in them.
Automatic Storage and Retrieval Lockers
Automatic locker technology enables patients to obtain their medicines after hours or from another location, such as an office tower. This would benefit several clients to connect to a pharmacy and make it quick and secure for them to deliver medications to various places.
People may open the door using a code their pharmacist gave them. The clients may use the locker in the drugstore to pick up their medicines if they don’t need to talk to the pharmacist.
